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Getting Started . . .

America Walks Everybody Walk

Initiative

March 9, 2015

Why pay for sidewalks near Chenango Town Hall if no one

walks there anyway?

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Background

Growing movement. EveryBody Walk

collaborative. Surgeon Generals Call

to Action on Walking & Walkability, 2015.

Whats working? Share as practice

briefs. >

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Use practice wisdom, identify actions that are essential for developing walkability

Interview seasoned practitioners (tribal elders) ID key characteristics of walkable communities Reflect on successful projects

Process, project (infrastructure), policy themes

The idea

Dan Burden Victor Dover Mark Fenton Pete Lagerway

Ian Lockwood Lauren Marchetti John Moffat John Norquist Jeff Olson

Lynn Richards Jennifer Toole Gary Toth Charlie Zegeer

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Process Principles

Listen to informed community input; create collective community ownership of the vision & process to get there.

Engage everyone possible, find champions whose job it is to push walkability forward.

Truly interdisciplinary teams.

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Work group:

Health

DPW

Planning

AHA

ADA

ACS

Enviro advocates

Rec.

Trails

Elected

Neighbor- hoods

PTOs

Hospital Insurer

Bike/Ped Advocate

Banks NAHB

Churches

Employers

Developer

NAR Vision

Service Orgs.

Transit

Parks

Econ. Devlpmt

Schools

Fire

Found.

Chamber Main St.

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Project Principles Mixed land use Active transportation

network Human scale design

that is appealing, safe, and universally accessible

Central to walkable, livable places Gateway Projects Job descriptions

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Policy Themes The rules and the money have to steer the

community toward healthier designs . . . Zoning ordinance must require and reward

compact, mixed-use development. Roadway design guidelines must fully reflect

Complete Streets principles and should create a transportation hierarchy of walking, cycling, transit, and motorized vehicles, in that order.

MPO funding scoring for projects should emphasize the active transportation modes.

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Transportation plans and forecasts can not just focus on motor vehicle Level of Service and projections, but must also consider pedestrian, bicycle, and transit performance.

Parking policies must require that parking pay for itself.

LOS

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The two questions that are NOT the real problem:

Technical. How do we do it? What are best practices?

Financial. How do we pay for it? Wheres the money?

UrbanStreetDesignGuide

OVERVIEW OCTOBER 2012

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E.g. Gateway, demonstration, pilot projects. Complete Streets: Pedestrians, cyclists,

transit riders, & drivers of all ages & abilities considered in every road project (new, repair, maintenance).

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First step ideas . . . 1.Start with paint. 2. Improve

wayfinding 3.Make crossing

safer curb extensions.

4.Add street furnishings.

5.Bike parking. 6.Parklets.

8.Better transit stops.

9. Improve a goat trail.

10. Do a road diet! 11. Calm traffic w/

islands, circles . . . 12. Pave the shoulder

on a rural road.

www.markfenton.com 1. Paint missing lines.

www.markfenton.com Or move them.

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Paint some high visibility crosswalks.

Ladder style

Artistic

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Add sharrows or a bicycle lane . . .

Sharrow (shared use arrow)

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Diagonal parking

increases on-street capacity,

but . . .

But reverse angle: Less severe collisions. Pedestrians off road. Safer for bikes.

York, PA

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2. Wayfinding. Fun & informative

Walkyourcity.org

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Baltimore

Missoula Queens NY

3. Curb extensions for Safer Crossings.

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4. Street furnishings Benches Bike parking Public art

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5. Bicycle parking; use the curb extensions!

Salt Lake City library

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6. Build a parklet (or a few of them).

Montpelier

Park City

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7. Transit stops!

Pad, Seating Shelter, trash can Schedule, arrival info!

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8. Improve a goat trail

Start where theres clear demand!

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9. Lane re-alignments Often called road diets, 5

or 4 lanes down to 3.

Can reduce collisions & severity.

Improves conditions for peds & cyclists.

During routine paving? Urbana, IL; before & after.

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E. Avenue A; other four-lane roads.

Hutchinson, KS.

www.markfenton.com E. Avenue A, Hutchinson, KS they did it!

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10. Install medians where no turns are possible on center lanes.

Include ped crossings where appropriate; ideally offset.

www.markfenton.com Glens Falls, NY

Round-about; often to replace 4-way stop.

www.markfenton.com Glens Falls, NY

Prove the big vehicles can make it (cones, hay bales).

Seattle

Madison, WI

Longmont, CO

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11. Require multi-modal transportation analysis (not just traffic) for all development.

Motor vehicles: Turn lanes, signal light. Ped: Sidewalk links, building up front. Bike: Lanes, parking; employee bike share? Transit: Shelters, walkway, street crossing.

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12. Rural settings? Begin paving shoulders.

First priority: routes to schools, parks, housing, shopping centers.

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Rural areas are where we can

affect the shape of development

before its done!

Rural housing . . . ?

or just more suburbia?

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Evidence, facility design, cost

estimating, way-finding.

Walk audits, inventory, events & short-term

trials, Complete Streets resolution.

Companion pieces . . .

Getting the community on board.

Resources.

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How to sell it? Three words!

Economics Economics Grandchildren

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Why should we have the GUTS to do it?

30 minutes of daily physical activity recommended (60 min. for youth). % of Americans actually meet these recommendation (thru LTPA). ,000 Estimated annual deaths in America due to physical inactivity & poor nutrition. (2nd only to tobacco.)

20

365

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walkscore = 72

*www.ceosforcities.org/work/walkingthewalk www.walkscore.com

Economics. Walking the Walk: How Walkability Raises Housing Values in

U.S. Cities (CEOs for Cities report)*

Higher score = $4,000-$34,000 home value walkscore = 29

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On Common Ground Natl Assoc. of Realtors pub.; Summer 2010 www.realtor.org

The Next Generation of Home Buyers:

Taste for in-town living. Appetite for public

transportation. Strong green streak. Plus, Americans are

driving less overall!

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Walkability. Why we care & why you should too! Builder Magazine, Mar. 2014

Consumer desire Flexibility in design Lower development

costs . . .

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Olshansky et.al., A Potential Decline in Life Expectancy . . . New Eng. J. of Med., March 17, 2005

Grandchildren . . .